An archaeology of counter-insurgency: Spanish military trochas and reconcentration camps in Cuba (1895-1898).

Summary

During the Cuban War for Independence, blockhouses and defensive lines (the so-called trochas) were constructed in order to divide the island into separate sectors that could be gradually 'disinfected' of insurgents. The non-combatant population was removed from rural areas and resettled in a number of fortified towns where they would be 'protected' by Spanish troops. This counter-insurgency tactic led to the indiscriminate confinement of hundred thousands of civilians and is usually referred as the ultimate origin of the modern concept of concentration camp. Despite this, little research seems to have been carried out on the spatial dimension of this process, on how it actually took place on the ground, or on the extent to which it changed the landscape. I will argue that conflict archaeology might contribute to understand the way it was implemented, its long-term repercussions upon people and places, and how the memories of this tragedy still persist.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Late Empires: the archaeology of recent colonialism and imperialism - 1860s to the present   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2013

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 347